Vertically sliding door apparatus



Aug. 11, 1953 c. J. LANE VERTICALLY SLIDING DOOR APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 24, 1951 INVENTOR (karla [Zane 5 AT'r RNv Aug. 11, 1953 c. J. LANE VERTICALLY SLIDING DOOR APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24, 195] INVENTOR Maria: I Zane BY W ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 11, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to a closure means for openings and specifically relates to vertically sliding door apparatus for closing compartment openings of shelves or cabinets.

To prevent the accumulation of dust and dirt on articles arranged in shelves, it has frequently been the practice to provide door closures for the shelves or cabinet compartments. Such door closures have been arranged to slide into the upper part of the shelf compartment sliding along trackways guided by means extending from the upper part of the door. Such arrangements have been disadvantageous because suflicient room had to be provided in the compartment to receive the door when it was moved from the closed position to the opened position in which it was disposed at the top of the compartment. Provision for the space occupied by the door necessarily limited the useful storage space of the compartment.

Other door closures have been of the type which were hinged along their lower edge to the lower edge of the compartment and were held in place by releasable locking means at the top of the door engaging abutment means at the top of the compartment opening. When the door was released from the closed position, the top of the door would swing outwardly and downwardly from the compartment opening. If the door was not securely locked when it was closed, the releasable locking means might become disengaged and the door would fall outwardly endangering the operator who might be in the vicinity.

There have also been devices employing horizontally sliding doors which move along trackways provided at the sides of the compartment. However, such horizonta1 sliding arrangements involved complicated and bulky mechanisms which did not insure that the sliding door would be positively guided and also did not provide means for the'ready removal of the doors in the event that they were no longer required or it was desired to use them in conjunction with other compartments which were then in use.

Itis an important object of this invention to provide a vertically sliding door apparatus of simple light-weight construction which can be moved to closed position to cover a compartment, such as a shelf or cabinet compartment, and which can be positively guided out of position to permit access to the compartment.

' Another object of this invention is to provide means for retaining the vertically sliding door in its guides, said means permitting the simple releasing of the door when it is desired to remove it entirely from the compartment but which will not become disengaged from the guides accidentally during normal use.

The invention relates to a vertically sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a compartment such as the compartments found in a series of shelves. The opening of such a compartment may be defined by the front edges of the top, sides, and floor of the compartment with the front edges of the sides of the compartment extending beyond the front edges of the top and the floor. The apparatus comprises vertical keyways formed in the inner faces of the sides adjacent the front edges of the sides, said keyweys being substantially parallel and having enlarged inner ways with lips extending over the'ways on the said inner faces of the sides to define narrow vertical slots. The corresponding lip of each. keyway is formed with an offset slot downwardly inclined away from the slot, the offset slots being adjacent the top of the compartment. Abutments close the keyway slots at the ends thereof adjacent the floor of the compartment. A door of sufficient size to cover the compartment opening and fit between the inner faces of the sides of the compartment is provided with pins extending from the sides thereof adjacent its top, said pins being of a size to be received in the slots and to extend into the inner ways. The portions of each of the pins received in each of the inner ways of said keyways have at least one projection extending at an angle to the axis of the pin to prevent removal of the pin through the slot of the keyway.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the drawings where- Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a cabinet having several tiers of compartments which embody the apparatus of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cabinet and apparatus taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a part of the cabinet partly in vertical section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional detailed view of a portion of the apparatus taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 2;

Figs. 5 and 6 are detailed side views of the elements of the vertically sliding door apparatus in several positions; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective detailed views with parts cut away showing elements of the apparatus in several positions.

The invention relates specifically to vertically sliding door apparatus for closing the openings of compartments I0, such as may be found in cabinets having sides II and also which are divided into tiers by shelf members I2, the sides II and the shelf members I2 defining the several compartments, 1. e. for any given compartment one shelf member I2 forms the floor of the compartment and another shelf member I2 forms the top of said compartment. The cabinet and the shelf members may be of any suitable material, such as, wood, heavy cardboard, or other suitable material. In the form shown, cabinet I3 is formed by the sides II and the shelf members I4 which can be formed of sheet metal. It will be noted that cabinets are also normally provided with a back I5 which is suitably attached to the sides of the cabinet. The top compartment of the cabinet may be closed by an additional shelf or by the top member I6 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Shelves I2 can be permanently fixed at predetermined levels in the cabinet or may be arranged for vertical adjustment in any well-known manner.

The compartments which may be used for the storage of articles, such as, books, records, or merchandise, are provided with openings which are defined by the front edges I1 of the shelves and by the inner faces I8 of the sides I I adjacent the front edges 26 of said sides.

It will be noted that the front edges 20 of the sides II extend beyond the front edges I1 of the shelves which form the top and bottom of the compartment openings.

Keyways or T-shaped slots 2| are formed in the sides I I on their inner faces I8 adjacent the front edges 23. The keyways on each of the inner faces of the sides II are substantially vertical and parallel with each other. Keyways 2| have enlarged inner portions or ways 22 which are defined by lips or strips 23 which are substantially co-planar with the sides II. The lips 23 also define narrow vertical openings or slots 25 which give access to the inner enlarged ways 22. In the embodiment shown, and as best illustrated in Figs. '1 and 8, the keyways 2I and the slots 25 are formed by welding or otherwise fixing channel members 28 to the outer ends of the sides II.

The sides II are also formed with offset slots 21 which are connected with the slots 25 and extend downwardly and at an angle to said slots 25. Said offset slots are formed in the sides II adjacent the upper ends of the compartment openings Ill.

Abutments 23 are provided in the slots 25 adjacent the lower end of each compartment I4. The abutments 28 may be formed as part of the slots or, as shown, may be separate pieces 30. which are welded or otherwise suitably connected to the outer sides II as best shown in Figs. '7 and 8. In the embodiment shown, the pieces 30 which provide the abutments 28 also include offset slots corresponding to the offset slots 21 and serve the function of strengthening said slots 21. The lower edges 3| of the members 33 may be sloped toward the offset slots 21 for a purpose to be described below.

The openings I4 of the compartments I0 are adapted to be closed by doors 32 made of suitable material, such as, wood, heavy cardboard, or other suitable material. In the form shown, the doors are of sheet metal and have sufficient vertical extent to substantially cover the compartment opening, extending substantially the entire height of the compartment from the front edge of the shelf I2 at the top of each compartment to the front edge of the shelf I2 at the bottom of the compartment.

Each of the doors 32 has a width such that the sides 33 of the doors lie adjacent the inner faces I8 which define the sides of the compartment opening I4. Substantially co-axial elements 35 extend from the sides 33 of the doors 32 adjacent the top 26 of said doors. The members 35 are of such size that they may be received in the slots 25, formed in the faces I3 at the sides, and extend into the inner portions 22 of the keyways 2I. Suitable means are provided at the ends of the elements 35 so that said ends cannot be removed from the slots 25 during the normal operation of the door. In the form shown, the coaxial elements 35 are extensions of a shaft 31 which extends along the top 36 of each of the doors 32 and is fixed to the top of said door by welding, or, as shown, by forming the top of the door around the shaft 31 clinching the door to the shaft 31 to prevent the shaft from rotating about its aXis. The means at the ends 38 of the elements 35 which prevent the members 35 from being withdrawn from the slots 25 may consist of a portion 48 adjacent the ends 38 of each element 35. The portions 40 are angularly disposed with relation to the members 35 of each shaft 31, the angle or bend being formed in the portions of the shaft 31 which extend through the slots 25 into the enlarged inner ways 22. The arrangement of the shafts with the bends therein is particularly well shown in Fig. 8. In that figure, it will be observed that the portion 40 of the shaft 31 is substantially at right angles to the axis of the shaft and extends at an angle greater than from the plane of the door 32. The length of the bent portion 40 of the shaft 31 is such that the shaft cannot be removed from the slots 25 until the door is rotated through more than 90 about the axis of the shaft 31 to thereby bring the axis of the portion 40 into parallel alignment with the vertical slot 25 as illustrated by the position of the door in the upper part of Fig. '7.

In operation, each door is disposed in the compartment opening with the elements 35 of the shaft 31 extending into the slots 25 and with the bent portions 40 of the shaft aligned substantially parallel to the outside faces 4| of the sides II inside the ways 22 defined by the channel member 26 and said outer faces. 7

To facilitate the vertical movement of the door 32, a handle 42 is provided, with the portion of the handle which is grasped by the operator vertically disposed.

In order to close the compartment, the door is moved vertically so that the guide portions 35 of the shaft 31, which extend from the sides 33 of the door, move along the slots 25 toward the top of the opening of the compartment. When the top 38 of the door 32 is adjacent the to p of the compartment, the door is pressed towardthe cempartment so that guides 35 move into the offset slots 21. The sloping lower face 3| of themember 38 acts as a guide in the movementof the members 35 into the offset slots 21, so that-the members 35 become seated in the ends -43 of the slots 21 as best shown in Figs. 2 and 8. The door 32 hanging vertically thereby closes the compartment opening, i

In order to gain accessto the compartment and to move the door out of the closed positionIthe handle 42 is grasped andthe dooris maintained substantially vertical, the, door being raised slightly so that the members 35 are moved from their seats in the lower ends 43 of the offset slots '21. The movement of the door upward and outward moves the guides 35 from the offset slots 21 to the vertical slots'25. The door is then permitted to move downwardly while guided by the guide members 35 moving in the slots 25 until the guides engage the abutments 28 fixed adjacent the bottom of the compartment. At this point, the door occupies the position, shown by thedash line, in Fig. 2. The entire opening (4 is now available to the operator for removing or positioning articles in the compartment.

Thereafter, in order to close the compartment, the door is moved upwardly so that the members 35 are reseated in the offset slots 21.

It will be noted that during the vertical movement of the door 32, the only guide means for the door are those at the top so that the door might become angularly misplaced, that is to say, that the operator might permit one side of the top of the door to become higher than the other so that,

if no means were provided for preventing the guide members 35 from being withdrawn from slots 25, the misalignment would permit the ends 35 to be withdrawn from said slots 25 because, in such a position, the distance between the slots would be greater than the distance between the ends of the guide members. Angle portions do serve to prevent the guide members from becoming too greatly misaligned, because when the guide members 35 move too far out of the same horizontal plane, the angle portions to abut the outer faces 4! and arrest any further misalignment. However, the angle portions are so constructed that they also permit the simple removal of the doors, when such removal is desired, by rotating the door about the axis of the shaft 3'! to bring the axis of the angle portion 68 into alignment with the vertical slots 25 and thereafter moving one side of the top of the door downwardly so that the ends of the shaft 3'! are out of horizontal alignment. In this position, the angle portion of the member 35 at the lower end of the shaft is permitted to move out of the slot 25 as shown in the upper part of Fig. '7. Thereafter, the other guide 35 can be similarly removed from its slots 25.

It will be noted that by the angular arrangement of the portion 40 with regard to the plane of the door 32, the axis of the portion '40 is not normally brought into alignment with the vertical slots 25, for, in such normal operation, the door is maintained in a substantially vertical position or the lower end 35 of the door 32 may be moved outwardly so that the plane of the door is at a slight angle to the vertical faces 21?. This position is best shown in Fig. 6 and by the door illustrated in the lower part of Fig. '7. From these figures, it will be observed that the axis of the angle portion to of the shaft 3'! lies at right angles to the axis of the vertical slots, thereby preventing the removal of the guide members 35 and their angle portions 66 from the slots in normal operation.

It will be noted from the foregoing description that the door apparatus of this invention provides the means for simply closing and opening the entrances to compartments and it furthermore'provides for the positive guiding of such doors as they are moved out of position, prevents their accidental removal, keeps them substantially vertical as they are moved into and out of position, and, in addition, the apparatus provides a simple effective means for releasing the doors means.

- from their guides when desired. Therefore, the

invention achieves all of the objects set forth above,

As shown in Fig. 1, three tiers of compartments are illustrated, the top two being of the same height and the lower one being of a lesser height. However, it will be appreciated that all of the compartments may be of the same height, .or all different, depending upon the positioning of the shelves and the vertical extent of the doors. This latter requirement with regard to the vertical extent of the doors is not a critical consideration for variations of as much as 1 will not materially alfect the operation of the doors. One contemplated application of the cabinets embodying this invention is as ofiicefile record repositories. For such use, the cabinets may include 8 to 10 tiers of compartments, each of the compartments being of sufficient height to permit the filing of correspondence, memoranda, or oflice records.

One very useful employment of the apparatus of this invention has been in a new type of ofiice file cabinet in which the material to be filed is arranged in compartment similar to those illustrated in the figures. Material is withdrawn from the files laterally rather than from above as in the case of the usual file cabinets and a great saving in aisle space results from the utilization of this type of file compartment. Space saving results from the fact that the aisles between the cabinets, such as a cabinet shown in Fig. 1, need only be sufficiently large to permit the passage of the file operator whereas with the standard file cabinet, space must be provided in the aisles for the extended file drawers as well as for the operator. It will be appreciated that the vertically sliding door apparatus of this invention is particularly well adapted for use with such cabinets for the compartments may be opened and closed by the movement of the doors vertically without the doors extending substantially beyond the face of the cabinet. Therefore, there is little danger of injury to anyone from partly opened or opened doors extending into the aisle.

In such use, the fronts ll of the shelves may be provided with label holders, such as the keyway it, which are illustrated in Fig, 2, the labels fixed in the label holders 46 being visible between the top 36 of one door 32 and the bottom 55 of the door above as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

As shown in Fig. 2, the bottom or loweredge 45 of the doors may be formed with folded or turned up edge to prevent injury to the operator which might result from a sharp lower edge and also to give greater lateral strength to the door.

It will be appreciated that the doors in the closed position, in which they hang substantially vertically or with the lower edge 45 slightly further out than the upper end 36, tend to shed settling dust and prevent the entry of such dust into the respective comparments.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the elements which I now consider the best embodiments thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the structure disclosed is only illustrative and the invention can be carried out by other Also, while it is designed to use the'various features and elements in the combinations and relations described, some of these may be altered and modified without interfering with the more general results outlined.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A vertically sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a compartment, said opening being defined by the front edges of the top, sides, and floor of the compartment, the front edges of the sides of the compartment extending beyond the front edges of the top and floor, said apparatus, comprising, vertical keyways formed in the inner faces of the sides adjacent the front edges of the sides, said keyways being substantially parallel and having enlarged inner ways with lips extending over the ways on the said inner faces of the sides to define narrow Vertical slots, one of said lips of each keyway being formed with an offset slot downwardly inclined away from the slot adjacent the top of the compartment, abutments closing the keyway slots at the ends thereof adjacent the floor of the compartment, a door of suflicient size to cover the compartment opening and being received between the inner faces of the sides of the compartment, pins extendingfrom the sides of the door adjacent its top, said pins being of a size to be received in the slots and extending into the inner Ways, the portions of each of the pins received in the inner ways of said keyways having at least one projection extending at an angle to the axis of the pin to prevent removal of the pin through the slot.

2. A vertically sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a compartment, said opening being defined by the front edges of the top, sides, and floor of the compartment, the front edges of the sides of the compartment extending beyond the front edges of the top and floor, said apparatus comprising vertical keyways formed in the inner faces of the sides adjacent the front edges of the sides, said keyways being substantially parallel and having enlarged inner portions with lips extending over the inner portions on the faces of the sides to define narrow vertical slots, the lip on each side which is remote from the front edge of the side of each keyway being formed with an offset slot downwardly inclined away from said front edge, said offset slot being adjacent the top of the compartment, abutments closing the slots at the ends thereof adjacent the floor of the compartment, a door of sufiicient vertical extent to cover the front edges of the top and fioor of the compartment and of sufficient horizontal extent so that the edges of the door are received between the inner faces of the sides of the compartment, coaxial pins extending from the sides of the door adjacent its top, said pins being of a size to be received in the slots and extending into the inner portions of the keyways, the end of each of the pins in the inner portions of the keyways being turned at an angle to the axis of the pins to prevent removal of the pins from the slots, and a handle provided on the outer face of the door so that the door may be moved vertically along the slots and may be moved to close the compartment opening, by moving the door vertically upward so that the pins move along the vertical slots to the ofiset slots and are permitted to move into the offset slots for maintaining the door in a closed position over compartment opening.

3. A vertically sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a compartment, said opening being defined by the front edges of the top and the floor, and, by the inner faces of the sides of the compartment, the said apparatus comprising vertical strips on the inner faces of the sides spaced apart to define vertical parallel slots on the inner faces of each of the sides, inner Ways of larger section than the slots defined by the vertical strips, one of the corresponding strips on the inner faces of each side being formed with offset slots downwardly inclined from said vertical slots, said offset slots being adjacent the top of the compartment, abutments closing the ends of the slots adjacent the floor of the compartment, a door having sufficient vertical extent to cover the front edges of the top and floor of the compartment and being of suflicient lateral extent so that the sides of the door are adjacent the inner faces of the sides of the compartment, a shaft of substantially constant diameter, fixed adjacent the top of the door and extending beyond the sides of the door, the portions of the shaft extending beyond the sides of the door being of a size to be loosely received in the slots and extending into the enlarged keyways, the portions of the shaft adjacent the ends thereof, which lie in the keyways, being bent at an angle to the axis of the shaft whereby the distance from the ends of the shafts to the bent portions thereof is a greater dimension than the width of the vertical slots so that the said ends of the shaft cannot be removed from said slots.

4. The apparatus described in claim 3, wherein the bent portions at the ends of the shaft are substantially parallel to the sides of the compartment and lie in a plane at an angle of more than to the plane of the door.

5. In a cabinet having at least one compartment defined by a top, member, a floor member, a back member, and side members, and having an opening at the front which opening is defined by the front faces of the top, and floor member, and the inner faces of the sides, a vertically sliding door apparatus, comprising, in combination, T-slots vertically formed in the faces of the sides on the interior of the compartment adjacent the opening, the exposed portion of the slot in each face being relatively narrow, a door of sufiicient size to cover the opening and be received between the inner faces of the sides of the compartment adjacent the opening, guide means projecting from the sides of the door adjacent its top, said guide means extending through the narrow slots on the faces of the sides and having means at the ends of said guide members to engage the enlarged portion of the T-slots to prevent the removal of the guide members except when the door is rotated about an axis defined by its top edge to a predetermined position and one portion of the door is permitted to move out of horizontal alignment with the other end of the door.

CHARLES J .-LANE'.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 734,537 Gilmour July 28, 1903 1,012,606 Davis Dec. 26, 1911 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 345,934 Great Britain Mar. 23, 1931 

